july2017

182 183 LotLinx is revolutionizing the way car dealers market their inventory online. Car dealers are be- coming extremely savvy on how to connect with potential car buyers via their digital devices – and LotLinx is powering this trend with the auto industry’s first direct-linking technology platform, supplying new and used vehicle inventory to auto sites reaching 65 million consumers each month. LotLinx is seamlessly connecting in-market car shoppers with dealer websites. In 2010, founders Len Short, Robert Vucic, Jason Knight and Denise Chudy realized an area of need in the automotive buying industry. Realizing there were too many layers between automo- tive dealers and shoppers, they created a method that eliminated the middleman and tore down third-party walls between dealers and their customers. They began a process that provided a more positive and efficient experience for dealerships and consumers alike. But LotLinx is more than just another portal site – it is the only platform that begins with deter- mining a dealer’s inventory needs, and uses cutting edge technology and machine learning to put specific cars in front of specific buyers – all the while making it easy to access meaningful data on ROI. All for a simple cost per unique shopper, with completely transparent pricing. The marketing platform provides several channels to merchandise inventory at the VIN level. LotLinx’s technology replaces forms on third-party web sites with direct links that take potential buyers directly to a dealer’s vehicle detail page – all at a higher conversion rate and for a fraction of the cost of other options online. LotLinx doesn’t just generate web traffic, they convert shop- pers into buyers and show an increased level of engagement. LotLinx reaches more than 85 per- cent of all online car buyers and powers more than 500 automotive search sites. Furthermore, LotLinx solves the major problems dealers can have when syndicating their inventory on third-party sites: conversion diversion, misaligned messaging, shared leads and inconclusive re- porting. With LotLinx, these issues are solved and dealers are delivered a cost-effective, transpar- ent way of VDP advertising. Google Analytics allows dealers to audit invoices and track conversion rates and website clicks in a fully transparent solution. Since their 2010 founding, LotLinx has grown quickly and consistently. The company has grown to be thousands of dealers strong, including hundreds of rooftops under the Nation’s Top 100 Auto Groups. LotLinx partners with OEMs directly, is approved for co-op programs and works with a wide network of resellers. The automotive retail industry is experiencing a digital revolution, and LotLinx is leading the way. WWW.LOTLINX.COM THE NAPLETON AUTOMOTIVE GROUP DeSoto was going out of business. They sprang into action, desperate to find a solution. Not long after, they got someone from Chrysler on the phone and were awarded a Plymouth fran- chise. Had it not been for their quick thinking, I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t all be here today.” “My dad, Ed Napleton, is one of eight children, and growing up everyone worked at the deal- ership,” Napleton continues. “And they started young–cutting the grass, sweeping the floors, cleaning the shop–you name it, they did it. Eventually they became technicians, salespeo- ple, finance and general managers. In 1975, my dad became the youngest Pontiac dealer in the country at the age of 23. Shortly thereafter, he acquired a Honda dealership, when no one real- ly knew what Honda was and it didn’t have the reputation it does now. He started out in Blue Island, Illinois, with the Pontiac franchise, even- tually moved Honda to Oak Lawn, Illinois, and it has grown from there.” Grown indeed. Today, through both ground- up construction and acquisition, the fami- ly-owned-and-operated company has over 2,500 employees and has expanded its geo- graphic reach to include over 32 locations and 55 franchises in six states –Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Florida. The company’s latest acquisitions were one Toyo- ta and two Lexus dealerships in Milwaukee;